A cryogenic catheter can generally be described as an elongate, slender, flexible body that is capable of delivering extreme cold to provide a medically therapeutic effect. Such a catheter can be a part of a system that includes several components, such as a console, an umbilical, connectors, a cryoablation catheter and a handle.
The console houses the electronics and software for controlling an ablation procedure. Additionally, the console controls delivery of a refrigerant through the umbilical to the catheter, and controls recovery of the refrigerant from the catheter.
The umbilical connecting the catheter and/or handle to the console provides mechanical connections for refrigerant transport and electrical connection for electrical devices and sensors. The handle, in addition to providing an appropriate graspable structure, can include controls for catheter steering, as well as other catheter functions. Various connectors can be connected to the umbilical to provide the connections to the thermal treatment system.
Known cryogenic catheter systems provide a unitary handle and catheter which is intended for a single use. As with other devices, attention to the percentage and content of a system that is disposable (or that which must be disposed of for sanitary reasons), as well as attention to the cost of replacement items, can have a substantial effect on the cost of acquisition and operation of the system. Thus, if possible, it would help to reduce cost of the system if only the catheter (or a portion thereof) was disposable and, under most circumstances, the handle was available for reuse.
Ideally, the inclusion of disposable system elements does not compromise system performance or patient safety. However, known attempts to provide disposable catheter elements have been less than ideal. For example, providing a catheter that is removable from the handle requires not only connection to refrigerant, steering elements and electrical elements, but also a creation of a fluid-tight seal at the catheter/handle interface. Not only can it be tedious to make such connections, known devices or connectors with this type of feature have not proved to be acceptable with respect to either performance or safety.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a cryogenic catheter that provides the benefits of a disposable component and which is easy to use, without safety or performance limitations. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a connector suited for use with cryogenic catheters which would allow for the quick, efficient, and secure connection of catheter components, such as injection tubes, containment sleeves, electrical connections, sensors, and the like. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide connectors, which may be configured at various junctions of the catheter assembly so as to allow for detachable and disposable cryoablation catheter systems.